NanoPi Fire2A & Fire3 Boards Released with Samsung/Nexell Quad & Octa Core Processors

FriendlyElec previously launched NanoPi 2 Fire board powered by Samsung (Nexell) S5P4418 quad core Cortex A9 SoC, mostly interesting because of its small form factor, camera and LCD interfaces. The company has now launched two new boards based on S5Pxx18 processors, namely NanoPi Fire2A powered by S5P4418 SoC, and NanoPi Fire3 based on S5P6818 octa-core Cortex-A53 SoC. Both boards share the same form factor, which remains quite similar to the one of NanoPi 2 Fire, except the HDMI connector now makes place for a micro HDMI port, the USB 2.0 has moved into vertical position, and a few other tweaks have been made to positions of buttons and components. NanoPi Fire2A / Fire3 specifications: SoC Fire2A – Samsung S5P4418 quad core Cortex A9 processor @ up to 1.4GHz, Mali-400MP GPU Fire3 – Samsung S5P6818 octa core Cortex A53 processor @ up to 1.4 GHz, Mali-400MP GPU System Memory Fire2A – 512MB DDR3 […]

Gateworks Newport SBCs Powered by Cavium Octeon TX 64-bit ARM SoC are Designed for Networking Applications

Gateworks is a US based company that provides embedded hardware solutions to mobile and wireless communications markets such as their NXP i.MX6 powered  Ventana single board computers, including Ventana GW5530 SBC with compact form factor making it suitable for robotics projects and drones. The company has now launched a new family of single board computers with Newport boards based on Cavium Octeon TX dual and quad core processors, and targeting high performance network applications with up to 5 GbE copper Ethernet ports, 2 SFP ports for fiber. Eight boards from 4 board designs using the dual or quad core version of the processors will be launched in sequence until Q2 2018, but let’s first have a closer look at Newport GW6300/GW6304 boards’ specifications since they are available now: SoC GW6300 – Cavium Octeon TX CN8020 dual core custom ARMv8.1 SoC @ 800 MHz GW6304 – Cavium Octeon TX CN8030 quad […]

Ugoos UM4 TV Box/Dongle Runs Android 7.1.2 with Some Uncommon Features

Ugoos UM3 was launched in 2014 with Android 4.4 on Rockchip RK3288 processor, and could be described a a tiny TV box, or large TV stick. That form factor must have had some success, and they later launched AM2 model powered by Amlogic S905 plus Android 6.0. The company has now just launched Ugoos UM4 with the same form factor but with Rockchip RK3328 processor running Android 7.1.2. Ugoos likes to add some software features often not found on other devices, and that would normally require hacking the firmware, or purchasing apps. Ugoos UM4 specifications: SoC – Rockchip RK3328 quad core Cortex A53 processor with ARM Mali-450MP GPU System Memory – 2GB DDR4 memory Storage – 16 GB eMMC flash (8GB optional) + micro SD card slot up to 32 GB Video & Audio Output – HDMI 2.0a female port up to 4k @ 60 fps with CEC and HDR […]

FUJITSU FUTRO S540, S740, and S940 Thin Clients are Powered by Intel Gemini Lake Processors

Intel Gemini Lake processors should be officially launched in a few weeks with Pentium & Celeron SKUs. We already have a good idea about the new processors’ features, but AFAIK so far there’s been no official announcement of products based on the new processor family, since companies must still be under embargo. FanlessTech noticed three new FUJITSI FUTRO thin clients (S540, S740, and S940), and upon further research found they were based on mini-ITX and mini-STX motherboards equipped with Intel Celeron J4005/J4105 or Pentium J5005 Gemini Lake SoC. Let’s have a look at one of the models’ specifications (FUTRO S940): Mainboard – D3543-A mini-ITX board SoC – Intel Pentium Silver J5005 quad core processor @ up to 2.8 GHz with Intel Gen9 HD Graphics supporting DirectX 12, OpenGL 4.4, Open CL 1.2, OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan; 10W TDP System Memory – 2 GB – 16 GB via SO-DIMM slot (DDR4, 2400 […]

It’s a Soda Can. No! It’s Nebula Capsule Smart Projector Running Android 7.0 (Crowdfunding)

I have reviewed two Android smart pico-projectors in the last couple of years, namely Doogee Smart Cube P1 and Rikomagic RKM R1. Both are battery powered, and worked well in the dark, but the Rikomagic model is my favorite of the two because it works without any major bugs, and I really like the touchpad on top as it made configuration and control really easy. There’s now another model on Indiegogo that’s been very popular so far with over one million dollars raised. Nebula Capsule may look like a soda can, but it integrates a pico-projector, a 360° speaker, a board running Android 7.0, and a battery allowing you to carry it around and use it on any a flat surface. Capsule projector specifications: SoC – Quad core Cortex A7 processor with Adreno 304 GPU (likely Snapdragon 210/212) System memory – 1GB DDR3 Storage – 8 GB eMMC flash Projector […]

Zidoo H6 Pro (Allwinner H6) TV Box Review – Part 2: Android 7.0 Firmware

Zidoo H6 Pro is the very first Allwinner H6 based 4K TV box. The Android 7.0 device support H.265, H.264 and VP6 4K video decoding, comes with fast interfaces such as USB 3.0, and network connectivity with Gigabit Ethernet and 802.11ac WiFi. I’ve already checkout the hardware in the first part of the review entitled “Zidoo H6 Pro (Allwinner H6) TV Box Review – Part 1: Unboxing & Teardown“, and since then, I’ve had time to play with the TV box, and report my experience with Android 7.0 in this second part of the review. First Boot and OTA Firmware Update I’ve connected a USB keyboard and a USB dongle with RF dongles for an air mouse and gamepad on the two USB ports, a USB 3.0 hard drive to the single USB 3.0 ports, as well as HDMI and Ethernet cables before powering up the TV box. I also […]

ODROID-MC1 Quad Board Cluster Launched for $220

Hardkernel teased us with ODROID HC1 Home Cloud server, and ODROID MC1 cluster last August with both solutions based on a cost down version of ODROID-XU4 board powered by Samsung Exynos 5422 octa-core Cortex-A15/A7 processor. ODROID-HC1 Home Cloud server was launched shortly after in September for $49. It took a little longer than expected for the cluster to launch, but ODROID-MC1 (My Cluster One) is finally here with four ODROID-XU4S boards, and a metal case with a cooling fan. The solution is sold for 264,000 Wons in South Korea, and $220 to the rest of the world. ODROID-MC1 cluster specifications: Four ODROID-XU4S boards with SoC – Samsung Exynos 5422 quad core ARM Cortex-A15 @ 2.0GHz quad core ARM Cortex-A7 @ 1.4GHz with Mali-T628 MP6 GPU supporting OpenGL ES 3.0 / 2.0 / 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1 Full profile System Memory – 2GB LPDDR3 RAM PoP Network Connectivity – 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet […]

Giveaway Week Winners – November 2017

Like every year, I’ve organized a giveaway week to send some of the items I’ve reviewed in the past year or so. There was a good mix of devices this year starting with a mini Linux NAS kit, following by some ESP32 boards, and Amlogic development boards among others. The results are in, and instead of 10 winners, I actually have 11 winners due a “timing issue”, and to make for one missing ESP32 board, a LinkIt Smart 7688 Duo board was also given away. While it started strongly for Eastern Europe, We have winners from 3 continents this year: NanoPi NEO2 NAS Kit – Hap Hapablap, Serbia Muses Beta DVB Encoder and Modulator Board – Luka, Slovenia ESP32 PICO Kit v3 boards (5 Winners): Andrius Kurtinaitis, Lithuania (2x ESP32 boards) Kebab, Turkey (2x ESP32 boards) Zoobab, Belgium (2x ESP32 boards) Sollie, Germany (2x ESP32 boards) BobR, USA (1x ESP32 […]

UP 7000 x86 SBC